My new ride: 83 CB650

my-79-750-k

Therapy is expensive. Riding is cheap. You decide.
Well, it's been 3 years since I had my 750 and the wife could tell I was going to be jonesin bad this year. So, thorugh some careful financial planning on her part, she presented me the option of grabbing a running bike on the cheap so I could ride while building the TX. Cue rabid scouring of Craigslist. Found this little gem literally 1/2 mile from the house. She runs, very well I might add, has a title, is 100% complete, only has a slim 22k on the odometer, and even has the original side covers and air box assembly! She may not be the prettiest belle at the ball, but she purrs like a kitten, and surprisingly, has more than her fair share of oomph. I dare say it's comparable to a CB750 but feels much lighter, probably because it's almost 100lbs less in factory trim. Anyway, the wife said this one wasn't to be torn down, but that she understands the cosmetic aspect needs to be addressed and has always mentioned she liked the look of the old 750. So, while it won't be a full teardown, over time she will be getting a mild cafe treatment. I stress mild because the front end has what seems like anyway, a much more raked out angle on the neck, and she's a shafty, although she does have the Enkei mag wheels (+100000 cool points). So, just a simple side shot for now, but as time and progress goes on, more will be added.
 

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First mod done! Well, first fix anyway. One of the turn signals was badly beaten up, and I had some spares sitting in my pile of leftover parts so I swapped them on to be all good with Johnny Law.
 

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Flugtechnik said:
Ian's back! Nice ride!



end of line

Haha! Yes, yes I am! Took me a while, but while I'm slowly chipping away on the TX, this is just something to basically paint and polish and keep me in the saddle until the project is done.
 
Got a meet up this weekend down in oregon. Going crazy and driving 410 miles on a bike I've only put about 100 on LOL. Well see if I make it back... or even there.
 

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For sure. Now that I'm meeting up with more people, the route just went from 7 hours to 10. I'm gonna be sore.
 
It stays at about 4k at 65. 10k redline, doesn't buzz too bad until about 6500.
 
Had a spot of trouble once I got into portland. Seems the ignition relay fuseable link was shot and caused my bike to basically run on battery for a short time. Couldn't get it to start, stuck on the side of the highway. Luckily, a fellow member of the Rockers NW group owns a shop in Portland. I wanted to give him a shout out everywhere I could Anthony Michel Mautemps at Bridge City Cycles came out, in the rain and picked me up. Took me a the bike back to his shop, there he and Shawn diagnosed the fuseable link, fabbed up a replacement and I was on my way, for a short time. About 10inutes down the road, it cut off again and refused to start. I frantically called him again, even though it was after business hours. He came and got me, again, and brought me back to the shop where he tested the battery. Sure enough it was shot, wouldn't hold a charge at all. So he went back into his shop and came out with another battery that just happened to fit exactly. Set it up, charged it and after we bolted everything up, it ran like a champ. I ended up having to spend the night here in portland but I'll be continuing on to the camping meet tomorrow along with him and a few othwrs. They seriously saved my ass. Can't thank them enough or speak highly enough about the treatment I got from them. If you ever break down in downtown portland, give Bridge City Cycles a ring. Those guys get 2 thumbs up in my book.
 
I had an 83 cb550 nighthawk back in the 90's. Mine did the same thing as you are mentioning. It left me on the side of the interstate. It would run as long as the battery was good. I later read (when I finally got the internet) that the reg/rectifier was a weak spot on these dohc and often failed. I still haven't fixed that bike. Lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using DO THE TON mobile app
 
Well, seems as though everything is now working as it should. 953 miles of highways, byways and twisty as hell canyon roads. Made it back Sunday night about 1/2 hour later than estimated, but in 1 piece. Epic weekend with some great friends, both old and new. Now it's time to do something about that seat.
 
Back from the dead! So after sitting all winter, things were crusty and in need of replacing. Master cylinder was leaking by so I had to scavenge a Kawasaki rebuild kit from the 1 dealer within 100 miles who actually had one. Turned out all I needed was the umbrella seal, but replaced it all anyway. New EBC pads on both front calipers replaced the "extremely" worn old pads. Got a new UNI filter to replace the paper OEM style filter that was in it, complete with about a handful of sand and grime (no wonder she ran out of steam at 70). Also found out why I'd only get about 3 starts out of the battery and then have issues. The CB650 was designed to have a 160 amp battery. Though the commotion of all the problems I had last year going to Oregon, I ended up using a 115 amp battery due to it being the only option at the time. After thinking it was the charging system (which they are known for being on the weak side anyway) I realized the mistake on the battery size and got a 180 amp dry cell in there now, no more worrying about getting stuck out in the boonies anymore. Last but not least, I redneck engineered a auxiliary brake light onto my existing tail light lens because the original tail light wouldn't light up when hitting the brakes. New switch, new wiring, chasing grounds, nothing worked. After I got a separate light installed, I realized it's the actual plug that's bad, sending constant power back through the switch wire, causing a blocked signal and therefor not lighting up. Eventually I'll fix that, but for now, at least I have a brake light.

Put 200 miles on her today, bedded the brakes in, ran her through the gears and rpm's. She purred like a kitten, except the right rotor is warped just slightly and chirps on the new pads. I'll have to take it into work and skim cut it flat again. First long ride of the year is coming up in 2 weeks so time to get all the bugs out.
 
Pics.
1: bike during "maintenance day"
2: bike as she sits now
3: new.pads vs old.
 

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Did some much needed maintenance this past weekend. Valve cover gasket, oil and filter, new o rings for the filter housing, fork seals and fluid. Also painted the faded purple/gray/ primer.
 

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As this isn't an actual project, but more of an ongoing swapping out of parts, changes are usually only made when something either wears out or I get tired of dealing with it. So when I finally had enough of the awkward angle of the stock bars, I did something about it.
1: Old bar angle vs new bar angle
2: Old bars
3: New bars
 

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those 650 nighthawks run good on the highway i was suprised the first time i took mine out

and through the mountains

i have a few parts bikes if you need something other then the ignition modules lol
 
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